


Footprints

by SYuuri



Category: Jurassic Park (Movies), Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: F/M, Post-Movie, mentions of the raptor squad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-06-19
Packaged: 2018-04-05 03:30:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4164054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SYuuri/pseuds/SYuuri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The bond between him and the raptors was one that could never be replicated. They shared mutual respect and trust, and like in any relationship, they had their fair share of trials and tribulations. Now, three of them were dead with one roaming loose in the remains of what used to be the most magnificent resort park in the world.</p>
<p>It hurt him, and thus it hurt her – the equation was as simple as that.</p>
<p>So, Claire told him to get a pet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Footprints

Claire knew Owen missed Blue. He rarely ever talked to her about the raptors squad, or the island incident at all for that matter (it had become a giant elephant in the room, one they delicately tried to shy away from even with the monstrous piles of paperwork on Claire’s desk serving as a constant reminder), but it wasn’t difficult to see. In one of those rare moments they did talk about Jurassic World, he told her that even before, he had expected the day would someday come that he had to part ways with the girls; he had just never quite predicted it happening the way it had.

The bond between him and the raptors was one that could never be replicated. They shared mutual respect and trust, and like in any relationship, they had their fair share of trials and tribulations. Now, three of them were dead with one roaming loose in the remains of what used to be the most magnificent resort park in the world.

It hurt him, and thus it hurt her – the equation was as simple as that.

So, Claire told him to get a pet.

“No.”

“Oh, _come on_ , Clare! I swear, she’ll behave.”

“Why can’t you be like other people who bring home a puppy or a kitten or-“

Owen raised a finger. “ _You_ ’re the one who objected to cats-“

“Because I am allergic to them, remember? Not because I refuse to be exposed to some _adorable_ furry balls-“

“Hey! I take offense, _she_ takes offense. She’s just as adorable as the cats in the videos you secretly love to watch on the internet.” Owen sharply snapped his fingers like he just had a Eureka moment and said, “You know, you can teach her tricks.” like it would automatically solve the problems.

“It’s an _iguana_ , Owen. How do you even teach iguanas tricks?”

“I had one as a kid, and Sierra here is a smart-“

Claire huffed. The green reptile was stark bright against the mostly white interior of the living room. Inside the cage, it (she) was basking under the sun’s rays filtering through the opened windows, either unaware or uninterested in the grown up discussion of her well being. Why didn't he get a bird? Had he looked into falconry? It's not like he hadn't spent the last five years of his life training another kind of bird of prey. “Sierra? Seriously, Owen? You already named her?”

“That’s what people do when they have a pet, Claire, they name them.” Much to Claire’s discomfort, he pushed the lid of the tank aside and reached over, stroking _Sierra_ ’s scaly spine. The smell coming from the cage was unlike the smell Owen used to smell after a long training day with the raptors. The only thing missing was the stench of rotten meat. Claire shivered. Owen went on, “Zach and Gray are going to love her. Okay, maybe just Gray. Seems like the only four-legged Zach’s interested in nowadays is the Camry he hopes he can afford next year.”

The kids obviously adored him, and it also warmed her that they got along so well (too well), but- “Oh no. You don’t tell them you have an iguana or Gray’ll start asking Karen for one. She’ll ask him who has been feeding him ideas, then she won’t ever allow him to see you, us, again.”

Owen grinned, scratching Sierra’s back lightly before carefully moving her to one of the basking shelves. “I don’t know, Babe. She still let them see us after what happened. This is just a harmless little iguana.”

“That ‘harmless iguana’ carries salmonella,” Claire remarked, mouth pinched to a thin line.

“Actually, as long as we practice good hygiene, the chance of someone contracting salmonella from uncooked chicken is way higher,” Owen quickly rebutted. He sounded rehearsed. He sounded cataloguey. She wouldn’t be surprised if he had run various scenarios on his way home from the vet. “And don’t think I don’t know you’re carrying around hand antiseptic whenever you go. There were a bunch of wild iguanas wandering around the bungalow back in the island and look at me, I’m fine. You're fine.”

Claire crossed her arms across her chest, peering at the juvenile reptile. The enclosure seemed cozy enough, with fake plants and artificial structures. Some lamps had been strategically placed for her benefits and it even had a couple of thermometers. “It can grow up to six feet.”

“We’ll upgrade the cage. I'll build it myself.”

Claire sighed. To be fair, she was the one who came up with the idea of a pet. She just hadn’t expected him to come up with an even more ‘brilliant’ follow-up idea. He looked happy though. His eyes retained a bit of the glow they used to have whenever she visited him when he was with his pack. Wasn’t that what her goal was? Besides, it could’ve been worse. He could have come home with a boa, or a monitor lizard from which Blue got her blue streak. While Claire would understand the sentiment, it would be too close to home - literally. “You’ve got everything planned, haven’t you?”

“Well, in my itinerary, we would've cuddled by now,” Damnit. He would never let that go. Barry would put it in his best-man speech (now, where did that come from?). God, Claire hated this man sometimes. “You know awful lots about iguanas for someone who claimed didn't like them."

She knew why he chose this particular animal. Not only it was a reptile, it also took patience and regular, proper handling to tame it. It was no raptor, but this creature in front of her wasn't as harmless as Owen had (deliberately) downplayed it to be.

“I didn’t think the sticking together thing included this kind of baggage.” They never talked about him permanently moving in with her, it just happened. They flew in from Costa Rica, and Owen’s doubts for crashing in her place lasted for maybe five days before they fell into a routine as old as the university alma mater t-shirt she was wearing. Then one day a bike showed up in her garage along with a newly built closet in their room, and now apparently they (he) had a pet iguana. “Sierra is a lot less exciting than Blue, have you considered that?”

Owen chuckled, eyes cast down. He replaced the lid back. “That’s probably for the best.”

She succumbed. Of course she would. She already knew she would when she opened the door, saw Owen cooing over the green lizard and blew up. “Fine, you can check Claire Dearing off your list.”

“Alright! That’s my girl!” Owen grabbed her around the waist and planted a big smooch on her lips.

Claire groaned, only half-heartedly pushing him away because his next kiss against the side of her neck sent all kind of wonderful tingles down her spine. “Oh, great, now I have to take a shower and do laundry.”

“Geez, Claire, she doesn’t have the black plague,”

“I didn’t say I was going to burn the clothes.” She teased and broke free from his embrace, crossing her arms and pulling her shirt off in one swift motion as she ascended the stairs with steps as light as a feather.

Owen swallowed, knowing she had him where she (he) wanted. Her emerald lacy bra, complementing her auburn hair perfectly, seared into his mind. “On second thought, I probably should supervise, or better yet, join in. Make sure we’re all clean. Yeah.”

Claire laughed. “You’re hopeless, Mr. Grady.”

(So was she).

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
